First, take your children over to the PetsWeekly Booth (Booth 116) to get their free puppy and kitten activity books. While the kids are coloring, you can view some of the best products on the market for pets – from keeping everyone (including Fido) safe on a road trip to tracking pets (or kids) with the newest TAGG GPS collar from Qualcomm. Once you’ve finished saying “hi” to the PetsWeekly crew, take the kids over to have their face painted, or for a jump on the moon bounce.  The Expo will also have clowns and lots of games for the kiddies to play. That’s a ton of good, clean fun!

There will plenty of other things for your children to see and do at the Expo, including taking part in a flash mob with Megan Blake and her dog, Smiley. If you and your kids want to learn the dance before the Expo, click here to see a video demonstration.

If that’s not enough to convince you to hop in the car and come on out to the Fairgrounds this weekend, Deb’s Dragons will be on stage with her amazing reptiles, the Splash Dogs will be showing off their dock diving skills, and the AZ Disc Dogs will be there, wowing kids and adults alike with their awesome disc tricks!

So get out of the heat this weekend at the indoor, fully air-conditioned, Wonder Pet Expo. There your children will be entertained and learn about the pet world all at once – creating memories to last a lifetime.  You won’t get from just another trip to the movie theater!

General Expo Information:

September 10-11, 2011

Sat. 10am-6pm

Sun. 11am-5pm

Held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds (the event will be indoors in the air-conditioned Expo building) at 1826 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, Ariz. Click here for directions.

Admission:

$6 for Adults

FREE for ages 12 and under

$7 a car for parking

“Night Tree” by Eve Bunting
This book was a new find for us this year. With great illustrations by Ted Rand, this story gives an account of a families tradition of venturing out into the woods to find “their tree” which they then decorate with popcorn strings, apples and other fun edibles. They drink hot cocoa and sing songs around the tree before heading in for the evening. The kids dream of the many animals that have Christmas dinner around their tree.

“Room for a Little One” by Martin Waddell
Brilliantly illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, this short but very touching tale gives the story of the first Christmas from the animals perspective as they each make room for a new “little one” this very special night. As the Kind Ox maintains throughout the story, “there’s always room for a little one here”.

“The Legend of the Christmas Tree” by Rick Osborne
If your little ones have ever wondered why we have Christmas Trees, this small board book adapted by Pat Matuszak and illustrated by Bill Dodge gives an account of how the evergreen tree became a symbol of Christmas as well as a way to tell people about God.

“Merry Creature Christmas” by Dandi Daley Mackall
It’s Christmas Eve, and all the animals in the forest are decorating the trees, hanging icicles, and building a nativity to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Star, a wild colt, is too joyful to be still and decides to wake up Big Bear! Soon all the animals are dancing together on the night of the Creature Christmas! A very fun book that has an accompanying narrative and great rhyming cadence for your little ones!

“Santa’s First Flight” by Sam Beeson
This is a very fun spin on the traditional night before Christmas which takes place during Santa’s first year, when he traveled by penguin, and not by reindeer! Playfully and richly illustrated by Tom Tolman, this story will have your kiddo’s giggling at Santa’s crazy penguin crew that helped set the tone for the first Christmas sleigh ride and create the true spirit of Christmas!

We have many more suggestions for you but these are a few of our favorites to get you started! Check back for more suggestions and we would love to hear from our readers about some of their favorite books! Send your suggestions to info@mytimecalendars.com with subject “Christmas Books for Tots” and maybe some of your favorites will work their way into our next post!

PUMPKIN AND CHILI PARTY

Schnepf Farms, 24810 Rittenhouse Road, Queen Creek. Phone: 480-987-3100. Website: www.schnepffarms.com

Description: Voted as one of the best family friendly experiences by Phoenix Magazine, this pumpkin patch festival offers something for everyone. Featured rides are a hay wagon, a mini roller coaster, carousels and trains. Try finding your way through a 4- or 10-acre cornfield maze. And check out the chili.

Times: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
 
Prices: $15, $10 military. $12 discount tickets available at Fry’s. Be aware that a lot of the farm activities are priced a la carte so discount tickets are definitely recommended. This is not a cheap experience but it is sure a lot of fun for the kids!

PUMPKIN PATCH

Mother Nature’s Farm, 1663 E. Baseline Road, Gilbert. Phone: 480-892-5874. Website: mothernaturesfarm.com

Description:  Families can purchase pumpkins and decorate them, plus take part in activities including an inflatable bounce house, hayrides, a straw bounce, animal feeding and Alexander’s Adventure Maze created with bales of hay.
 
Times: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily through Nov. 5.

Prices: $7, $3 adults. 

Wherever you decide to purchase your pumpkins this year though, keep your little ones age in mind when it comes time to decorating. Remember, pumpkins don’t necessarily need to be “carved”. Fingerpaints can be an especially popular way for the youngest of your crew to still enjoy the experience. Topping your childs painted creations with a little glow in the dark paint or fingernail polish, glitter glue or the like, available at most grocery stores, and you’re good to go!

Does your enjoy Mr. Potato Head? How about working on the work bench with their play hammer and pols? Well, Paper Magic Group from Creative Seasonal Solutions has some great pumpkin decorating kits available at your local Fry’s Marketplace. The Fright Lights kit allow your child to pound in some transparent colored pegs with a small wooden mallet which then light up when a light is placed inside the pumpkin! Great for ages four and up. You could also try the Pumpkin Push Ins for ages 3 and up that allow your child to decorate their pumpkin with eyes, ears, horns, teeth, mouth and nose in true Mr. Potato Head fashion!

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful time making this years Halloween masterpiece!

Scaredy Mouse By Alan MacDonald and Tim Warnes

This book follows the story of a “small mouse, a scared mouse, a stay-at-home mouse” as he gains courage from his big sister to venture out into the scary territory of “the big ginger cat with green eyes”  in search of a special chocolate treat. Your kids will love this cute adventure as he “runs this way and that, harum-scarum, round and back” on his way to becoming a “bold-as-a-lion mouse”! The clever illustrations and misunderstandings as Squeek tries to understand the world around him are truly priceless and will have your kids giggling as he overcomes his fear of the unknown with the help of his sister.

Disney’s Scary Storybook Collection

This book is a treasure trove of 5 minute Halloween spins on traditional Disney stories. If you’re kids are even remotely fans of Disney’s arsenal of creative characters, they will love seeing their heroes and villains figure out their Halloween fears with humor and wit! Each story is only about 5 minutes long, making this a favorite bedtime choice for my kids since each one can pick out their own story and we can fly through them before bedtime with no trouble at all! The illustrations are of course first rate (after all, it’s DISNEY!) and are in several different styles appropriate to the stories and characters they are depicting.

John Pig’s Halloween by Jan L. Waldron and illustrated by David McPhail

This is by far our favorite pick of the season! We have read it so many times, it has now become a memorized favorite! The rhyming cadence of the story lends itself well to a singsong story telling adventure! David McPhail’s incredible water color illustrations truly capture the imagination and the excitement of the story. Follow John Pig as he decides he’s too scared to go out trick or treating with his friends and instead commits to “sit in the shadows, with no costume on”. But he gets a spooky fun surprise when a witch arrives at his door and decides to teach him what Halloween is all about! She invites her ghoulish friends and shows John some “tricks” for his “treats” as they whip up a monster bash not to be forgotten! You be the judge whether John missed out on trick or treating or whether his friends missed out on staying at home!

This is a small spot area in my car before I attacked it with Dash Away. You can see where my floor mat had been.

Ok, you busy parents of little mess makers, hold onto to your carseats because we’ve got a product that will absolutely make your “must haves” list!

I was contacted by Surf City Garage out of Huntington Beach, CA with a cleaning product they said couldn’t be beat. Having five children of my own and the various messes that accompany them, i have tried innumerable products and none seem to completely live up to their claims of “miraculous” cleaning power. So I was naturally quite skeptical of Surf City Garages claims for their Dash Away all purpose cleaning product. It arrived on my doorstep with the guarantee from its founder, Tim Miller, that “when used as directed, if this product isn’t the best you’ve ever tried, give me a call and I’ll buy it back.” As you will see from the pictures, I have no intention of calling Mr. Miller!

This is the picture I took of the same area about 2 minutes after I applied Dash Away. You can barely see the earlier line of grime defining where the floor mat had been!

I decided to test it out on some of the toughest, most resilient stains I have at my disposal… my car. I have had the carpet professionally cleaned several times and was told to resign myself to the fact that certain stains are just impossible to remove. I very skeptically followed the directions for Dash Away…shaking the bottle, spraying a light mist over the stain, and then wiping it clean with a rag. Way too simple, I thought, until I began to actually “see” the stain begin to disappear! And as if thats not enough, it actually smells good too!

I turned my good friend Jodie onto the product to help her with a 3 year old, sun baked koolaid stain. She has had the stain professionally treated several times with no visible results. After showing her the product, she promptly went out and bought not only the Dash Away product but also the window and leather cleaners! Here’s her take on the Surf City Garage products…

“It lightened the koolaid…it worked on all the dark spots on carpet and got the smudge off the sides of the car and doors. I liked the cleaner because its not sticky or oily. I usually like aerosol window stuff but this stuff didn’t streak or leave smears.”

Needless to say, I am now a devoted fan! The product is non toxic and safe to use on a number of materials like vinyl, leather, carpet, fabrics like car seats, strollers and the like. Although it was designed for car cleaning, the applications seem limitless. I have no problem endorsing this product and highly recommend it to anyone looking for quick, easy and thorough cleaning results (and it’s only $9.99!). I was able to clean the entire interior of my Denali in less than 15 minutes with results that were better than the $60 professional interior detail I not only paid for but also waited over two hours to have completed several months ago!

Check out more info on Dash Away and other Surf City Garage cleaning products at www.surfcitygarage.com. Happy cleaning!

Little Sammy was one of the inspirations behind Personal Child Stories

Personal Child Stories was begun specifically to address all of theses questions. The company owner, writer and designer, Shara Lawrence-Weiss is a journalist, early childhood specialist, experienced nanny and freelance writer who is also experienced in special needs children from a firsthand perspective. She has taken this diverse background and combined her many skills along with a passion for reading into a wonderful positive learning tool for children of all ages. Her books are custom designed for each individual child with pictures, story line and theme centered around each childs particular needs.

I had to see this for myself! I recently received some samples of her product and was most impressed! Her books come in two sizes, 5×5 for smaller children and 8.5×9 for older children. Trust me when I say that these books are meant to last! Each page is laminated and the book is spiral bound for easy page turning. The result is a sturdy book that will hold up to drooling, chewing, throwing, stepping on, and just about any other rough treatment your toddler can imagine! The pages will not tear, can be written or colored on and then can be wiped clean again with a damp cloth to look brand new again!

From babies to toddlers to even older children, Personal Child Stories inspire and teach all ages!

Storylines are completely customized and used in conjunction with actual submitted photos of the child to fit each childs individual need, situation or desired learning concept. She works closely with parents to accomplish this. Her alphabet book and counting book samples were a huge hit with my little toddler! She loved flipping through the book again and again, counting the pictures and pointing out the letters of the alphabet!…of course that was after I had exhausted my patience answering numerous requests to “read it again, mommy!”. The counting book was especially neat because it not only had a cute rhyming lilt to it but it also showed the numbers in Spanish, English, and sign language!

As a graphic designer of over 12 years experience, I can attest to the life-changing impact that strong images and well written copy can have on people of all ages. Shara has combined both in her product and I would highly recommend these books to anyone looking to teach their children through the power of positive reinforcement.

If you would like to learn more about obtaining your own personalized book for your child, visit Shara at www.personalchildstories.com

Developed in 2009, this application was the brain-child of ANDESigned, LLC and is truly inspired work. It allows you to track multiple children from birth to whenever! To better explain this application, I will use my own family of 4 children as an example. Each child was entered with all their birth information and a current photo. I was then able to enter all their vaccination information through a slick interface that allows you to record by vaccine, date and even be as specific as the time of day. You can also make notes at each vaccination entry about how they reacted, doctor recommendations, etc. Next, I was able to enter all the doctor visits I wanted to for each child. For most of my children, this included just the well-visit check-ups for which I entered their measurement info and any pertinent doctor advice I wanted to keep track of. But I have one child that has had health conditions that necessitated specialists so I was able to enter these “sick” visits as well to track exactly when he went and what was discussed.

Total Baby is the most Complete Baby Logging and Tracking Application available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

But it doesn’t stop there! There is a wonderful diary entry area for each child where you can use pictures from your iPhone gallery or snap one for immediate use and couple it with any information you want to include. This is great when your child says or does something funny or memorable and you want to remember it but may not remember at the end of the day to write it into your journal. This app lets you jot it down right as it happens! There is also a milestone area…you title each entry so you can track when they took their first step (with photos!), first words, first smile, or even their first day of school! How about those parent/teacher conferences, concerts or special assignments? Yup, you can record those too! This area also comes with a timing feature so you can track the exact moment you want to notate through a handy drop-down menu that deafaults to the current moment!

If you choose, you can email the TotalBaby reports. Just specify dates or "all data" and you get a well organized synopsis of your child's history!

This event timing is one of the coolest features. Total Baby combines 13 separate timing and tracking functions into a single complete solution. You can track events for each child like diaper changes, bottle feedings/nursing (even which side they nursed on and for how long!!), naps, bathtimes, and one of my absolute favorite features (because I have multiple children to track) is the ability to track doses of medication. For instance, if I have more than one child that requires medication, I can track exactly what I give each child (time, quantity and specific medication) so I know exactly what they’ve received and when they are due for another dose. This is invaluable for sleep deprived mothers who may or may not have the ability to trust their memories at two o’clock in the morning.

To wrap up our review, all this information is literally at your fingertips! So when your friends ask you “so when was she born?” or your doctor asks “how many wet diapers did he have today?” or your child asks you “what did I do when I was 2?”. Not only is it easily accessible but you can also back up the files as well as email them (choosing all information or just specific dates)! We have looked at several other baby/child tracking apps and this one truly shines above all the rest. For only $4.99, it is a totally fun app that is so practical every mom should have it!

Our only complaint (and we had to reach to find a complaint with this app!) was that a growth chart would be very helpful to have in addition to the growth recording abilities it now has. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this feature will be included in future updates!

A teacher with ample information to send home to a child’s classmates parents will be able to provide a much safer environment than a teacher with no tools to supply their parents and students. As Elizabeth Cowles Johnston, a member of School Nutition Association states, “schools want to ensure that sutdents are also cognizant of their own allergy risks – another reason tables or areas of “peanut0free” are more prevalent than complete bans as they are more manageable to monitor.” Elizabeth offered us two great printouts entitled “School Foodservice and Food Allergies: What We Need to Know” and a comprehensive “Food Allergy Action Plan” that parents can fill out for their kids to take to school and give to their teachers, parents or other involved faculty members.

Lor Aronsky from Food Allergy Ally shared some more suggestions of “nut free” treats and alternatives to send to school:

• Instead of Peanut Butter, try Soy Nut Butter (IM Healthy) or Sunflower Butter (Sun Butter).
• Treasure Mills Allergen Sensitive Snacks make school safe treats such as brownies, chocolate chip treats, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc. and are sold at Whole Foods Stores.
• Divvies makes delicious treats for school.
• Vermont Nut Free has amazing candies, treats, etc.
• Entenmanns makes several nut free deserts and many popsicles and water ices are safe but a caution with these products…READ LABELS as not all of these products are made without nut contaminants.

Lori also offers some suggestions on home safety should you have a child with nut allergies over to play. It is fine to have nuts and peanut butter in your home but keep them out of reach and even out of sight if possible. If you have prepared peanut butter sandwiches on your table tops, simply wipe them down well. Remember to check labels before giving any food to the child. Recognize that they can safely eat fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt and MOST Mac and Cheeses and MOST pizza snacks but again…CHECK LABELS! Be sure the parent leaves 2 epi pens and they train you how to use one in case.

Other suggestions for classrooms are to make sure if you have a child with allergies, to bring a bag of “safe” treats to school for your teacher to keep on hand should someone unexpectedly bring questionable treats to school for the kids. Most teachers prefer kids bring in pencils, markers, stickers or other school supplies as an alternative to treats anyway.

Always wash hands after snacks or lunch to make sure that nut contaminants are not transferred to classroom materials.

A great web find was the Stuck on You labels. They offer many customized stickers, bags, labels, bracelets and school supplies that will help parents protect children by alerting caregivers to their specific allergy. They have some very fun ideas and supplies worth checking into.

Another suggestion came from Alana Elliot, Founder and President of Nonuttin’ Foods Inc. She suggests providing a large, color poster to the school with a picture of the allergic child, their food allergies, and no more than 3 simple steps to follow if an allergic reaction is suspected. Make enough copies for the child’s classroom, the staff room and the office. “While some people may be concerned about their child being labeled,” Alana says, “it’s advisable to have all in the school aware of your child so they can respond accordingly in an emergency and not all staff will know the child so must have a visual to refer to.” She adds,”Safety trumps privacy in this situation.”

Alana also recommends keeping your child’s epi-pens on their person. “A teacher in the playground with your child will not have time to go get an epi-pen in the school and return to your child.” Kat Eden, an employee at Education.com and mother of an allergic child, suggests a “teaching” epi-pen is worth having around so that parents can take a moment at the beginning of the school year to educate a teacher or other faculty member how to use the pen correctly without fear.

Kat also  has taught her son some choice phrases to help him communicate with the other children about his allergies. Politely refusing treats with a “no thank you” or even a more direct “I’m allergic to peanuts” will alert kids but may also invite teasing. So Kat suggested her son try a little humor of his own by saying “my body doesn’t like peanuts and if I eat them or touch them I’ll get very sick. But my body LOVEEESSSS chocolate!”…she adds, “I’m not sure why but that cracks him up every time!”.

Here are a few more helpful links worth checking out…

• Nut and Peanut Allergy Diet
• Allergy and Special Needs
• Kids and Food Allergies: Facts, Tips, and Resources

We hope you have found our unfortunately rather long blog posts this week helpful as we strive to keep our kids safer in school. It is also our hope that you will take this information and share it with as many others as you can so that we can continue to understand this allergy better, with less fear and with more understanding. As Jessica Cohen, a parent of a child with multiple food allergies, states “the more the people around him understand the seriousness of it, the more we can all work together to keep children like mine safe.” Mike Spinney, another concerned parent, adds “clearly communicating the reality of our daughter’s situation opens eyes, and when they know there’s a potential for death, they pay attention.”

Dance and cook with Goofy and his friends in Goofy's Kitchen!

Brilliant fireworks, beautiful music, and a snow fall surrounded by white lights all combine in the Disney fireworks display to bring the holidays home!

Are you planning any trips to the Magic Kingdom this holiday season? If you are not, then you should! Holidays in Disneyland are truly magical! For starters, it’s pretty tough to find someone that could top the Mouse for his decorating savvy. The entire park gets a serious make-over for the holidays. Toon Towne is complete with snow on the rooftops and you won’t even recognize the Haunted Mansion, which has been overrun by Jack Skellington and his band from the Nightmare Before Christmas. The towering trees, wreaths, flowers, and holiday lights are truly a sight to behold. If you can’t get in the Holiday spirit in Disneyland, then I am afraid there is little hope for you.

If you are planning a Disneyland trip this holiday season and toting along multiple little people with you, we’ve got a few recommendations…

• Transportation. If you have the ability to take the monorail into the park, this will shave considerable time off your morning commute. You must be staying in a Disneyland Hotel (California Hotel, Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel) in order to fast pass onto this little gem of a transport system. Presenting your room key along with your park ticket will get you in a full hour before the park opens on select days.
• Food and the “bottom” line. If you plan to be in the park for the entire day, food can be a very daunting expense and major time waster. Again, we are addressing those with little ones here. Based on considerable experience, we recommend you try to limit yourself to two or less meals in the park. Snack before you leave your room. Then eat a good sized breakfast in the park late in the morning (you can hit the rides while everyone else is eating at normal breakfast hours, then eat while the ride lines are longer) then take along a smorgesborg of water, treats and snacks (fruit roll-ups, trail mix, granola bars, fruit, etc.) that will happily tide your little ones (and bigs ones!) over until the next meal. Skip the lunch and have either an early dinner or a late dinner. Again, this helps you avoid the mealtime crowds and time-waster lines.
• Don’t miss the fireworks! You need to give yourself a good hour before it starts to find a decent spot. Take some blankets to sit on. Pick a spot near the castle or near the Small World ride. These are the best locations to be a part of the “White Christmas” part of the fireworks…yes, there is actual snow that will fall! You won’t want to miss it!
• Give the gift of memories! If you’re going to spend all that money on getting your family to the park, then it’s worth it to make sure they remember it, right? Autograph books can help you’re kids interact with the characters firsthand and have some memories to boot. An autograph book that includes picture slots is a must. Our little ones loved to approach each character and “ask for their autograph”, if only to have an excuse to talk to the character one on one. Once finished with the trip, we insert photos of each child with their character friends into this autograph book and it becomes a real treasure for each child. A word of advice for the autograph seeking crowd…it is well worth investing in a “character dining experience” rather than face long lines to meet each character in the park. For the best food and character quantity, we recommend the “Plaza Inn “Minnie & Friends – Breakfast in the Park” hosted by Kellogg’s ” inside Disneyland for breakfast. In one hour, you will fill up at least half of an autograph book.

Good luck on your Disney vacation and we hope you have as much fun as we did! Now go make some memories!

Do you have experiences or tips you would like to share about how to maximize a Disneyland holiday trip? Visit our forum and join in the conversation!

ReUsies come in many different styles to fit your little one's "tastes"!

As school began this year, I found myself caught somewhat off guard as I ushered three of my four children off to school for the first time instead of two. Several things were surprising to me. First, it’s amazing how much longer it takes to get three out the door as opposed to two! Second, school supplies are now a “purchase in bulk” item rather than a “lets stop by the store on the way to school” project. And third, I can go through a jumbo box of ziploc bags in less than 3 weeks!!!!

Yikes! I am not  the most conscientiously “green” parent but I do make an effort to not be obscenely wasteful and this particular realization had me shaking as I grabbed the box of plastic bags for lunches. I couldn’t believe there was no other alternative to this kind of waste. Enter ReUsies!

ReUsies has developed a product to replace plastic sandwich bags forever! They are made from  100% cotton lined with leak-resistant nylon and have a Velcro closure. They come in two different sizes, Snack Size (approximately 6″x5″) and Sandwich size (approximately 7.5″x6″). The snack size can hold a half sandwich or whole sandwich with the crust off and is great for crackers, pretzels, fruit slices, or similar quantities of snacks.  The Sandwich size  can hold a regular sized sandwich, bagel, or similar sized snacks. If you’re like our family, a typical lunch might contain one large snack bag and two smaller ones.

One of the best things about ReUsies is the ease of care! They can be machine washed, washed in the dishwasher (my personal favorite!) or wiped clean in soapy water and air dried! One of my biggest hold ups with the product was my fear that after prolonged or extended use, they would begin to smell or break down (as do my dishrags!) but I am pleased to say that after a month of use, they still look (and smell) just as good as new!

When it takes over 1,000 years to break down a single plastic bag (and a single family of 3 kids is capable of disposing of over 180 bags a month!!), this product could make a considerable difference in the future of our children. Not only is it safer for the environment, it is safer for the food we consume since less contact with plastic means less contamination to food. When you live in a climate like Arizona where temperatures can reach up to 115º (even higher if your food sits in a car for any amount of time), plastic and food don’t always make a safe combination.

For more information or to purchase your own ReUsies, visit their website at www.reusies.com. They are currently running a special through the end of September 2009 that includes free shipping!